Author: Emily Conover / Source: Science News
As far as close shaves with a black hole go, it doesn’t get much closer than this.
Scientists have spotted clouds of gas hurtling around the monster black hole at the center of the Milky Way, not far from the behemoth’s edge.
Observed on three separate occasions, the gas clouds careened along at unimaginably fast speeds — 30 percent of the speed of light, researchers report October 31 in Astronomy & Astrophysics.The gas seemed to be near a boundary known as the innermost stable circular orbit — the closest matter can circle the black hole without falling in. The…
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